The Nondual Awareness Dimensional Assessment (NADA): New tools to assess nondual traits and states of consciousness occurring within and beyond the context of meditation.

Two new questionnaires, the Nondual Awareness Dimensional Assessment-Trait (NADA-T) and the Nondual Awareness Dimensional Assessment-State (NADA-S), were developed to measure nondual awareness—a sense of oneness or absence of self-other boundaries. Principal component analysis with 528 participants identified two dimensions of the NADA-T: self-transcendence and bliss. Further analyses in three independent samples (totaling 725 participants) showed both dimensions reflect a single overarching nondual awareness construct. The NADA-T correlated with interdependent self-construals and dispositional mindfulness.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This article details the development of two measures of nondual awareness, the Nondual Awareness Dimensional Assessment-Trait (NADA-T) and the Nondual Awareness Dimensional Assessment-State (NADA-S). Principal component analysis (N = 528) revealed two, interpretable dimensions of the NADA-T: self-transcendence and bliss. Bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling, conducted in three independent samples (N = 338, N = 221, N = 166), indicated that both NADA-T dimensions were components of a second-order nondual awareness construct. Convergent validity was observed between the NADA-T and theoretically aligned constructs, including interdependent self-construals and dispositional mindfulness. Given theoretical and observed relationships between nondual awareness and mindfulness, additional analyses examined the relationship between mindfulness practice and nondual awareness. Results indicated that mindfulness practitioners reported higher NADA-T scores than nonpractitioners, and mindfulness practice frequency was positively associated with nondual awareness. To assess the immediate effect of meditation practice on nondual awareness, items retained in the final version of the NADA-T were modified to create the NADA-S. A randomized controlled experiment (N = 53) comparing participants receiving a mindfulness induction (i.e., body scan) with those in an attention control group revealed state effects of mindfulness on nondual awareness using two, alternate forms of the NADA-S. Thus, the NADA-T appears to be psychometrically sound, representing a novel, standardized instrument capable of facilitating quantitative investigation of nondual awareness. Furthermore, the NADA-S may be useful for measuring fluctuations in nondual states of awareness evoked during mindfulness meditation practice and other contemplative techniques designed to transform consciousness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).